Drawing tool and drawing method

ABSTRACT

A drawing tool for drawing pattern parts with held attributes is provided. It draws pattern parts, based only on a desired pattern part being selected from a pattern part window, and the pattern part passing, along a route in which the pattern part moves with dragged onto a drawing canvas, through a desired attribute display region of attribute palettes for displaying its attributes given with respect to the pattern part, so that the attribute can be selected and set by the pattern part only passing, along the route in which an attribute of the pattern part drawn on the drawing canvas is dragged and dropped onto the drawing canvas, through the attribute display region for displaying the desired attribute; therefore, drawings can be performed by minimal operation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to drawing tools and methods for drawingby pattern parts being dragged and dropped onto canvas using a pointingdevice.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventional general-use drawing tools are configured such that theyinclude pattern part windows in which pattern parts are selected byusers, canvas onto which drawing is performed with the selected patternparts being dragged and dropped, and palettes in which pattern partattributes are changed. The number of the palettes equals to the numberof changeable attributes that the pattern parts have. An example of theconventional drawing tools is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication 21,377/1998.

In the conventional drawing tools, any one of the pattern parts isselected from the pattern part window using a mouse, and the selectedpattern part is placed in a desired position of the canvas with adrag-and-drop operation by the mouse. The placed pattern part attributesare generally predetermined ones as a set of standards, or the ones thathave been selected and stored in the last operation. For example, in astate in which a red color has been selected in the color palette and athick line has been selected in the line thickness palette in the lastoperation, when a quadrangular pattern part is selected in the patternpart window using the mouse, and then dragged and dropped on the canvasby the mouse, a quadrangular pattern is drawn onto the canvas, in whichthe painted color is red and the outline is thick.

In a case in which attributes need to be changed, the attributes arechanged by palette selecting operations corresponding to each attribute,for example, a pattern part whose attribute needs to be changed, isselected using the mouse, and in the state in which the pattern has beenselected, a painting color is then selected, if needed, from the colorpalette and an outline thickness is selected from the line thicknesspalette. For example, in a case in which a quadrangular pattern paintedred on the canvas with a thick outline is changed to the one paintedyellow with a thin outline, the operation must be performed in such away that the quadrangular pattern is selected using the mouse at first,and then the yellow color is selected from the color palette in thisstate, and the thin line is selected from the line thickness palette.

In the conventional drawing tools, patterns are drawn onto the canvas byrepeating these series of operations. That is, the conventional drawingtools have separate operations, which are the drag-and-drop operationsthat determine the positions of the patterns drawn and the paletteselecting operations that determine how to draw the patterns.

In the conventional drawing tools, as described above, drawingoperations have been performed by repeating operations in such a waythat after having selected the pattern parts using the mouse and onceplaced them on the canvas by the drag-and-drop operations, theirattributes are then changed. Therefore, in the conventional tools, inorder to draw a pattern part, drag-and-drop operations for selectingdesired pattern parts and for determining their positions, must beperformed plural times, which equal to the number of the palettescorresponding to attributes to be changed; consequently, there has beena problem in that the operations are very troublesome.

An objective of the present invention, which has been made to solve theforegoing problem accordingly, is to provide a drawing tool and adrawing method in which operations for selecting and determining theattributes are simplified.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to provide a drawing tool that includes:drawing canvas for drawing pattern parts; a pattern part window fordisplaying a plurality of the pattern parts being a candidate set fordrawing; a pointing device for dragging and dropping any one, selectedfrom the pattern part window, of the pattern parts; an attribute palettehaving a plurality of attribute display regions for displayingattributes selectively given with respect to the selected pattern part;an attribute detection means for detecting in the attribute palette anattribute display region through which the pointing device has passedalong a route in which the selected pattern part is dragged and droppedonto the drawing canvas using the pointing device; an attribute holdmeans for holding an attribute that is selectively determinedcorresponding to the detected attribute display region; and a drawingmeans for drawing, by the selected pattern part being dropped onto thedrawing canvas, the pattern part having the held attribute.

Consequently, because the attribute can be selected and set based onlyon the pattern part passing, along a route in which the attribute of thepattern part drawn on the drawing canvas is dragged and dropped onto thecanvas, through an attribute display region for displaying a desiredattribute, drawings can be performed by minimal operation. That is, byan operation in which the pattern part is dragged and dropped onto thecanvas from the pattern part window, the position where the pattern partis drawn on the canvas can be determined, and the attribute to be drawncan be also selected and determined.

Moreover, the present invention is to provide a drawing tool thatincludes a pattern part window provided on a perimeter portion of thedrawing canvas, and an attribute palette provided inward of the patternpart window in the drawing canvas.

Consequently, the attribute can be selected and determined, with a smallmove distance along a route in which the pattern part drawn is draggedand dropped onto the canvas from the pattern part window.

Furthermore, the present invention is to provide a drawing method thatincludes the steps of selecting any one of pattern parts from a patternpart window for displaying a plurality of pattern parts being acandidate set for drawing; based only on the selected pattern partpassing, along a route in which the selected pattern part is draggedusing a pointing device to move the pattern part into a position inwhich the pattern part is drawn on a drawing canvas, through any ofattribute display regions in an attribute palette having a plurality ofthe attribute display regions for displaying attributes selectivelygiven with respect to the selected pattern part, detecting the attributedisplay region, and holding an attribute selectively determinedcorresponding to the detected attribute display region; and drawing thepattern part provided with the held attribute by the selected patternpart being moved and dropped into the position where the pattern part isdrawn on the drawing canvas.

Consequently, because the attribute can be selected and set based onlyon the pattern part passing, along a route in which the attribute of thepattern part drawn on the drawing canvas is dragged and dropped onto thecanvas, through an attribute display region for displaying a desiredattribute, drawing can be performed by minimal operation. That is, by anoperation in which the pattern part is dragged and dropped onto thecanvas from the pattern part window, the position where the pattern partis to be drawn onto the canvas can be determined, and the attribute tobe drawn can be also selected and determined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system configurational view of a drawing tool according tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit configurational view of the drawing tool accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the drawing toolaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view representing a state in which, when a pattern part isdragged and dropped from a pattern part window onto canvas, attributesof the pattern part are stored in a pattern-part-attribute temporarystorage unit of a storage unit in the drawing tool according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a view representing a state in which, when a pattern partplaced on the canvas is dragged and dropped, attributes of the patternpart are stored in the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit ofthe storage unit in the drawing tool according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view representing states in which attributes of patternparts drawn on the canvas are stored in a pattern-part-attribute storageunit of the storage unit in the drawing tool according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a view representing a state in which information as to whethera pointer of a mouse passes into an attribute palette is stored in apassing-into palette flag of the storage unit in the drawing toolaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining a state in which the pointer of themouse passes through the attribute palette in the drawing tool accordingto the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1

A preferred embodiment will be explained using the figures. FIG. 1 is aschematic configurational view illustrating a drawing tool 1 inEmbodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit blockdiagram of the drawing tool 1 illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated inFIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the drawing tool 1 in this embodiment has aninputting device 7 being a pointing device such as a mouse 7 a, adisplay device 8 such as a CRT (cathode-ray tube), a data processingunit 9 for processing data in the drawing tool, and a storage unit 10used for calculating in the data processing.

The data processing unit 9 includes: an attribute-information creatingmeans 9 a for storing attribute information of pattern parts in apattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c that will beexplained later, when a user has started to drag and drop pattern parts4 from a pattern part window 3 onto drawing canvas (hereinafterconveniently referred to as canvas) 2 using the mouse 7 a; apassing-into-palette determining means 9 b for determining whether thepointer of the mouse 7 b is in a color palette 5 a or a line thicknesspalette 5 b (hereinafter conveniently referred to as palettes 5 orpalettes) 5; an attribute-information updating means 9 c for updatingattribute information of a pattern when the pattern passes through thepalette 5; and a pattern-part drawing means 9 d for drawing a patternpart 4 on the canvas 2, at the point when the pattern part 4 is draggedand dropped onto the canvas 2 except for the palettes 5 portion. Inaddition, the storage unit 10 includes: a passing-into palette flag 10 afor holding whether the pointer of the mouse 7 a is in the palettes 5; apattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b for holding attributeinformation of all patterns drawn on the canvas 2; and thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c temporarily used forholding attributes in the palettes 5 where the pointer of the mouse 7 ahas passed through, when the pointer has passed through the palettes inan operation process in which a pattern part 4 is dragged.

The whole operation of the drawing tool in this embodiment will beexplained using a flowchart illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is theflowchart in a case when the user selects a pattern part 4 in thepattern part window 3, and drags and drops the pattern part onto thecanvas 2 through the palettes 5.

Here, in this embodiment, a case in which selectable attributes areassumed to have two items, which are color and outline thickness will beexplained.

When the user selects any one of the pattern parts 4 and moves theselected pattern part 4 from the pattern part window 3 by a dragoperation, in attribute-information creation processing step ST100,information related to its pattern is stored in thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c by theattribute-information creating means 9 a. The pattern-part-attributetemporary storage unit 10 c includes an ID (identifier), shape,position, size, painting color, and outline thickness, as represented inFIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The ID is a numerical value uniquely given to thepattern. The shape is an outline in which the pattern part 4 is drawnonto the canvas 2, and the position is given by coordinates where thepattern part 4 is drawn onto the canvas 2. Moreover, the size representsa length of one of sides when the pattern is quadrangular or triangular,or represents a diameter when the pattern is circular. The paintingcolor represents color inside the pattern when the pattern part 4 isdrawn onto the canvas 2, and the outline thickness represents an outlinethickness of the pattern when the pattern part 4 is drawn onto thecanvas 2.

The size drawn is predetermined depending on the type of the patternwhen the pattern part 4 is dragged and dropped onto the canvas 2 fromthe pattern part window 3; for example, in a case of the quadrangularpattern the size is 20.

In attribute-information creation processing step 100, theattribute-information creating means 9 a creates and stores the ID,size, shape, painting color and outline thickness, but not store theposition.

An ID given to a pattern-part-attribute of the pattern 4 that is newlydragged is set to the maximum value, among the numerical values of IDsthat have been already stored in the pattern-part-attribute storage unit10 b on the canvas, plus one, as represented in FIG. 6. A painting colorand an outline thickness that have been selected in each palette 5 atthe moment when dragging operation has been performed are stored.

FIG. 4 is an example representing how a pattern-part-attribute is storedin the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c, when thepattern part 4, in a case in which “yellow” and “thin” are selected inthe color palette 5 a and the line thickness palette 5 b, respectively,is selected and dragged-and-dropped onto the canvas 2. In addition, insuch a case, because the maximum value of the IDs provided to thepattern parts already having been drawn is 7 according to FIG. 6, the IDprovided to this new part becomes 8 (=7+1). In FIG. 4, specific data hasnot yet been stored in a position data box.

Next, in passing-into-palette determination processing step ST101, it isdetermined by the passing-into-palette determining means 9 b whether thepointer of the mouse 7 a has passed into either of the coordinates ofthe palettes 5. The determination result is stored in thepassing-into-palette flag 10 a represented in FIG. 7 inpassing-into-palette determination processing step ST101. As a value ofthe passing-into-palette flag 10 a, in a case in which the pointer ofthe mouse 7 a is in either of the palettes 5, “1” is stored, while in acase being in neither of the palettes 5, “0” is stored. Because “1” isstored in FIG. 7, it represents the case in which the pointer of themouse 7 a is in either of the palettes 5.

Consequently, at the time when the user starts to drag the pattern part4 from the pattern part window 3, the value of the passing-into-paletteflag 10 a is “0”.

In passing-into-palette determination processing step ST101, thedetermination processing as to whether the pointer of the mouse 7 a haspassed into the palette coordinates, is performed by judging whether thex-coordinate and y-coordinate of the mouse 7 a have been in thex-coordinate and y-coordinate of the palette. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 8, when the pointer of the mouse 7 a on thecoordinates of the drawing tool points that the x-coordinate is 800 andthe y-coordinate is 400 (point “A” in FIG. 8), the coordinates on thecolor palette 5 a are assumed that the x-coordinate is 600–700 and they-coordinate is 200–500. Comparing the y-coordinate of the pointer ofthe mouse 7 a with the y-coordinate on the color palette 5 a , they-coordinate of the pointer of the mouse 7 a is in the range of they-coordinate on the color palette 5 a however, the x-coordinate of thepointer of the mouse 7 a is out of the range of the x-coordinate on thecolor palette 5 a.

As represented in step ST102, in a case in which either or both of thex-coordinate and y-coordinate of the pointer of the mouse 7 a are out ofthe range of the x-coordinate or y-coordinate of a palette 5, thepointer of the mouse 7 a is judged not to have passed into the palettecoordinates, and the value of the passing-into palette flag becomes “0”.In a case in which both of the x-coordinate and the y-coordinate of thepointer of the mouse 7 a are in the range of the x-coordinate and they-coordinate of the palette 5, the pointer of the mouse 7 a is judged tohave passed into the palette coordinates, the value of the passing-intopalette flag becomes “1”.

While the pointer of the mouse 7 a is not on the palette 5, that is,while the value of the passing-into palette flag 10 a is “0”, thepassing-into-palette determination processing in step ST101 continuesuntil the pattern is dropped, that is, until the dropping is detected instep ST104.

When the pointer of the mouse 7 a has passed into the coordinates of thecolor palette 5 a, that is, when the passing-into palette flag 10 a is“1”, attribute-information update processing in step ST103 continues. Inattribute-information update processing step ST103, theattribute-information updating means 9 c updates information as to howthe pattern part 4 is drawn, when the pattern part 4 is dropped onto thecanvas 2 based on the coordinates where the pointer of the mouse 7 a haspassed through the palette 5.

As represented in FIG. 8, for example, in a case in which the pointer ofthe mouse 7 a have passed into the portion corresponding to theattribute being “red” in the attribute display portion of the colorpalette 5 a, “1 ” is stored in the passing-into palette flag 10 a inpassing-into-palette determination processing step ST101, then thepainting color in the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 cis updated from “yellow” to “red”.

After this, if the pointer of the mouse 7 a moves out from the colorpalette 5 a without passing through any portion except for the attributedisplay portion being “red”, in passing-into-palette determinationprocessing step ST101, “0” is stored in the passing-into palette flag 10a.

If the pointer of the mouse 7 a has passed through the “blue” portion ofthe color palette 5 a, after once having passed through the “red”portion, and has passed out from the color palette 5 a, the paintingcolor of the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c isupdated from “red” to “blue” in step ST103. In FIG. 8, an example isillustrated in which the pointer of the mouse 7 a has only passedthrough the “red” portion of the color palette 5.

After this, in a case in which the pointer of the mouse 7 a passes intothe coordinates of the line thickness palette 5 b, the passing-intopalette flag 10 a becomes “1” in step ST101, the attribute-informationupdate processing in step ST103 continues. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 8, in a case in which the pointer of the mouse 7 a passes intothe coordinates of the line thickness palette 5 b, because the pointerof the mouse 7 a passes into a portion corresponding to the attributebeing “regular” among the attribute display portion in the linethickness palette 5 b, the outline thickness of thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c is updated from“thin” to “regular” in step ST103.

Then, if the pointer of the mouse 7 b has not passed through portionsexcept for the “regular” of the attribute display portion and has passedout from the line thickness palette 5 b, “0” is stored in thepassing-into palette flag 10 a in step ST101; consequently, processingin step ST101, step ST102, and step ST104 is repeated until the patternpart 4 under being dragged is dropped or passes again into the palette5.

In a case in which the user passes the pattern part 4 through the “red”portion of the color palette 6 a and the “regular” portion of the linethickness palette 5 b, and drops the pattern part 4 onto the canvas 2, apattern-part drawing processing in step ST105 is performed.

In pattern-part drawing processing step ST105, by the pattern-partdrawing means 9 d, the pointer coordinates of the mouse 7 a at the timewhen the pattern part 4 is dropped onto the canvas 2 are inputted intothe pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c, and the patternis drawn onto the canvas 2 based on the information of thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c. After drawing, thepattern-part drawing means 9 d adds the contents of thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c to thepattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b.

The processing flow of a case has been explained above in which the userselects the pattern part 4 in the pattern part window 3, passes itthrough the palettes 5, and drags and drops onto the canvas 2; however,in a case in which the pattern part 4 does not pass through the palettes5, the flow becomes as follows.

Similarly to the case in which the pattern part 4 passes through thepalettes 5, when the user has moved the pattern part 4 from the patternpart window 3 by the drag operation, information related to the patternis stored in the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c.

In passing-into-palette determination processing step ST101, it isdetermined whether the pointer of the mouse 7 a has passed into thecoordinates of the palettes 5; here, the value of the passing-intopalette flag 10 a is “0” because the pointer of the mouse 7 a does notpass through the palettes 5.

At this moment, the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 cstores the ID, shape, size, painting color and outline thickness, butnot store the position. In this case, the painting color and the outlinethickness are made to be the predetermined ones as the standard set, orthe selected and stored ones in the last operation.

When a pattern is dropped in step ST104, the pattern-part drawingprocess in step ST105 is performed. The pointer position of the mouse 7a at its dropped point is inputted into the pattern-part-attributetemporary storage unit 10 c, and the pattern is drawn onto the canvas 2based on the information of the pattern-part-attribute temporary storageunit 10 c. After the pattern has been drawn, the contents of thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c are added to thepattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b.

Next, a processing flow of the case will be explained in which theattributes of the pattern part 4 already placed on the canvas 2 arechanged.

As an example, a processing flow is represented as to a case in whichthe attributes of the pattern in which the ID in thepattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b, as represented in FIG. 6, is“1”, that is, the attributes of the quadrangular pattern part in whichthe painting color is “red” and the outline thickness is “thick”, arechanged. It is assumed that this quadrangular pattern has a side-lengthof 50 and is drawn at the point where the x-coordinate is “100” and they-coordinate is “500”.

In a case in which the user moves a pattern whose ID is “1” and that isplaced on the canvas 2 by a drag operation, in attribute-informationcreation processing step ST100, information related to the pattern, thatis, information related to the pattern part whose ID is “1”, in thepattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b, is copied into thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c. That is, differingfrom the case of the pattern part 4 being dragged from the pattern partwindow 3, as represented in FIG. 5, the ID, shape, size, painting color,and outline thickness in the pattern-part-attribute temporary storageunit 10 c become those already stored in the pattern-part-attributestorage unit 10 b. The position is not stored.

In passing-into-palette determination processing step ST101, it isdetermined whether the pointer of the mouse 7 a, in a state in which theuser drags the pattern part 4 already drawn, has passed into thecoordinates of the palettes 5. At the time when the user starts to dragthe pattern part 4 onto the canvas 2, the value of the passing-intopalette flag 10 a is “0”.

When the pointer of the mouse 7 a is not in the palettes 5, that is,when the value of the passing-into palette flag 10 a is “0”, thepassing-into-palette determination processing in step ST101 continuesuntil any one of the patterns is dropped in step ST102 and step ST104.

For example, when the pointer of the mouse 7 a passes into thecoordinates of the color palette 5 a, that is, when the value of thepassing-into palette flag 10 a is “1”, similarly to the case in which apattern part 4 is dragged and dropped from the pattern part window 3onto the canvas 2, the attribute-information update processing in stepST103 is performed.

For example, if it is assumed that the pointer of the mouse 7 a haspassed into the “blue” region in the color palette 5 a, the paintingcolor in the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c isupdated from “red” to “blue”. After this operation, if the pointer ofthe mouse 7 a has passed out from the color palette 5 a without passinginto regions other than the “blue” region of the color palette 5 a,processes in step ST101, step ST102, and step ST104 are repeated unlessthe value of the passing-into palette flag becomes “0” inpassing-into-palette determination processing step ST101, and thepattern part is dropped or the pointer passes into the palette again.

In a case in which the user has dropped the pattern part 4 onto thecanvas 2 after having passed the pointer through the “blue” region inthe color palette 5 a, the pattern-part drawing processing in step ST105is performed.

In pattern-part drawing processing step ST105, a pointer position of themouse 7 a, when the pattern is dropped, is inputted into thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c, and based on theinformation in the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c,the pattern is drawn onto the canvas 2. After drawing, the contents inthe pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c are overwrittenon a line of the pattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b having thesame ID as that of the pattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10c. In this example, because the ID of the pattern-part-attributetemporary storage unit 10 c is “1”, the contents in thepattern-part-attribute temporary storage unit 10 c are overwritten onthe line of the pattern-part-attribute storage unit 10 b whose ID is“1”.

Here, in the above described explanation, it has been described in thecase where a simple pattern such as a quadrangular pattern or circularpattern has two attributes, which are the painting color and outlinethickness; however, it is understood that the invention is not limitedto shapes or kinds of the attributes of patterns as far as the patternshave attributes, and that the invention can be utilized in various kindsof drawing tools. It is also understood that not only “figures” such asa quadrangle or circle but also characters, etc., as pattern parts, canbe handled. For example, in a case in which characters as the patternparts are handled, attributes such as a kind of fonts, font size,underline, fat character, and italic character as the palette can be setby once-time drag-and-drop operation.

According to the present invention as described above, when the patternpart is selected from the pattern part window, and dragged and droppedonto the drawing canvas, because a means of selecting and determiningthe pattern part attributes drawn onto the drawing canvas is provided bythe pattern part passing through the desired attributes in the palette,the drawing can be performed with minimal operation. That is, by onesingle operation in which the pattern part is dragged and dropped fromthe pattern part window onto the canvas, the position where the patternpart is drawn onto the canvas is determined, and, at the same time, theattributes drawn can be selected and determined.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, a drawing tool and drawing method according to thepresent invention is suitably used for drawing in which attributesrelated to a plurality of items with respect to a pattern part need tobe selected.

1. A drawing tool comprising: a drawing canvas for drawing at least onepattern part; a pattern part window for displaying a plurality ofpattern parts, wherein the pattern parts are candidates to be drawn onthe drawing canvas; a pointing device for dragging and dropping at leastone pattern part, wherein the at least one pattern part is selected fromthe plurality of pattern parts displayed on the pattern part window; anattribute palette comprising a plurality of attribute display regionsfor displaying attributes selectively given with respect to the selectedpattern part; an attribute detection means for detecting in theattribute palette an attribute display region through which the pointingdevice has passed along a route in which the selected pattern part isdragged and dropped onto the drawing canvas using the pointing device;an attribute hold means for holding an attribute that is selectivelydetermined to correspond to the detected attribute display region; and adrawing means for drawing the pattern part having the held attribute bydropping the selected pattern part onto the drawing canvas.
 2. A drawingtool as recited in claim 1, wherein the pattern part window is providedon a perimeter portion of the drawing canvas, and the attribute paletteis provided inward of the pattern part window in the drawing canvas. 3.A drawing method comprising the steps of: selecting at least one patternpart from a plurality of pattern parts on a pattern part window, whereinthe pattern part window display a plurality of pattern parts which arecandidates to be drawn; based only on the selected pattern part passing,along a route in which the selected pattern part is dragged using apointing device which moves the pattern part into a position in whichthe pattern part is drawn onto a drawing canvas, through any ofattribute display regions in an attribute palette comprising a pluralityof the attribute display regions for displaying attributes selectivelygiven with respect to the selected pattern part, detecting the attributedisplay region, and holding an attribute selectively determined tocorrespond to the detected attribute display region; and drawing thepattern part provided with the held attribute by the selected patternpart being moved and dropped into the position where the pattern part isdrawn onto the drawing canvas.
 4. The drawing tool according to claim 1,wherein the pattern part window and the attribute palette are separatelyprovided on the drawing canvas.
 5. The drawing tool according to claim1, wherein the attribute detection means detects the attribute displayregion through which the pointing device has passed along a route fromthe pattern part window to the drawing canvas.
 6. The drawing toolaccording to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of attributepalettes each comprising different attributes of a pattern part.
 7. Thedrawing tool according to claim 1, wherein an attribute of a patternpart is modified by dragging the pointing device through the attributein the attribute palette.